I wasn't really intending to bird today; rather I was just taking a vigorous walk in the "cool" of the morning. Passing by Pier Four I saw a tern sitting on a piling. I thought I'd seen one about a week ago but it flew off before I could get my binoculars on it. However, this one, a Common Tern, was easily seen. It plunged into the East River a couple of times, coming up with zilch. The East River seems an unlikely source of nutrition for a tern.
A few minutes later at Pier One I saw either another or the same tern, flying from piling to piling until it headed off toward Manhattan. I thought it probably was the same tern I'd seen a little farther south.
However, when I passed by Pier Four on my way back, there were 3 more terns flying around at the end of the pier. One eventually flew right over my head.
Obviously there are fish in the river--cormorants make a good living there. But cormorants dive to the bottom--I just find it hard to imagine any little fish near the surface for a tern to grab on a plunge dive. I certainly didn't see any successful dives and I anthropormorphize that the tern flew toward Manhattan out of frustration.
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